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Thursday, 24 October 2013

IAF016 Retained Post Delta and PIA001 Ylona of Prydia released!

Bill
Dalton checked the magazine on the Tumbler SMG for the third time.
Sixteen rounds, just sixteen left. There would be no more ammunition
and he had taken the last of it from the bleeding and now still body
of his friend Numan. The pair of them, separated from their
Planetary Militia platoon, had taken refuge in building after
building gradually ending up now in a stock room in what once was a
Happy Burger store. Numan had fallen with a laser bolt in his chest
less than two minutes earlier. Dalton had dropped the Malig that had
shot him with a burst of 9mm rounds. The pair of them had seen no
Fabricator Spires along the way, well at least no spire that was
functional, so resupplying had been impossible. They had picked up a
few survivors of the Khanate assault on the Zone along the way; a
woman with two small children.

A
heavy click announced that the Tumbler magazine with secure and with
that Dalton took his eyes off the corridor that linked to the stock
room and looked at the three survivors huddled in the corner as far
as they could be from the door. Dalton was a big man, a powerfully
built former ore miner who had come to the Camarthan sector to make a
living. He had also signed up for the PM too thinking, rationally,
that the extra florins an annum would be welcome in return for little
effort. How wrong he had been and now he was in the depths of a
hopeless situation. His arms shone with razzer tattoos, the thick
muscles flexing changed the patterns as they moved. Dalton smiled at
the cowering woman who clutched the children tightly. He could say
nothing reassuring. They did not smile back.

Footsteps
in the corridor brought Dalton back to the present and he saw a pair
of Maligs edging around the corner, their weapons jutting forward and
plainly visible. Maligs were stupid but they were also bloody
dangerous and cunning with it too. Dalton had learned that over the
last three days. He pushed the nearby 'cleaning in progress' floor
sign forward with his left foot and then kicked it hard at the
Maligs. It skittered up the corridor with a scraping screech and had
the desired effect. The two Maligs jumped in fright and in doing so
fell into the corridor, their Maia Mpi's dropping to the rubbacrete
floor tiles. Dalton took aim and blasted them apart with two pulls
of the Tumbler's trigger. On the second pull the weapon roared and
then thudded empty in his hand. He was now unarmed aside from a long
knife at his waist, but at least the coast was clear for the moment.

Dalton
had been tricked. Maligs are nothing if not callous and expendable.
The Shia Khan Legionary who had used the noise of their death to
cover its approach above the flimsy ceiling units now dropped to the
floor directly in front of him. It raised a Cupid laser pistol and
Dalton barely managed to grip its arm in time and force the weapon
sideways where it scored a line of burning holes in the wall. He
drove a punch that would have given a prize fighter pain into the
Legionaries mid section but either its auto aid or glimmer suit
blocked the blow and the alien seemed hardly to notice. Bringing
back his fist again the alien stuck him in the side with its gloved
hand as Dalton hammered it in the face plate of its helmet. He was
in pain now but all the force he could manage had cracked one of the
eye pieces in the helm and the alien stepped back grunting. Dalton
dropped the Tumbler and raised both fists. The Legionary however had
not going backwards out of pain, it was just trying to bring its
pistol up to kill all the Humans in the room.

There
was no way to see if the alien was smiling but Dalton, blood dripping
from where the Legionary's spiked glove had cut his side, swore that
it must be. It raised the laser pistol and brought it to point at
his face. But before it could pull the trigger it fell forward,
dead, as a booming echo of a heavy calibre round went around the
small room. Behind the alien stood a Retained Knight in red and
white powered armour an Angis 12.5mm AP Rifle in hand. Several more
Retained were in the corridor and Dalton could hear more Angis fire
nearby.

Reaching
to their neck seals the small group of Knights removed their helmets.
As they did so their hair, released from the confines of their
helms, fell to their shoulders. Dalton stood a good foot taller than
the Retained in front of him but a grin broke across his face as wide
as the horizon when he saw that they were all women. He knew that
there were a lot of female knights but he had never seen one. Hell
he had never seen any before now. The Knight that had saved his life
spoke and then she returned the genuine smile.

“We
thought we would find no one alive trooper. The Styx Legion have
this place locked down tight. I have some extra magazines for that
Tumbler if you want them.”

Dalton
accepted the offer of more ammunition and taking it and the retrieved
weapon he loaded the Tumbler and asked if his small group could
accompany the Knights.

“By
The Code of course you can. Stay with the civilians and
protect them. Behind us if you would. After all its a dangerous
world out there.”

Its
been known for a month that this day was coming and now its is here!
Yes, our forth Retained Post of ten brand new poses of 15mm white
metal space knights but unlike the last three Post Delta is entirely
female. Female Retained Knights for use in your Lances! IAF016
contains ten Retained in female pattern Alwite powered armour armed
with a variety of weapons including Angis 12.5mm Rifles an Anvil 888
Launcher a Moth Type 12 Launcher a Minstrel Taser and a couple of
Hermit Plasma Rifles too. All but two poses are without helmets so
you can see their faces. Excellent on their own or for mixing into
other Retained forces. As always this code can be bought as a pack
or as single miniatures or select the three packs and save 10% option
on the page. Go HERE. Price 5.00GBP per pack.

PIA01
Ylona of Prydia

Another
first for The Ion Age as we bring you the first poster print of our
artwork! Back in the days of science fiction yonder poster prints
were greatly desired and even now posters from films such as
Bladerunner and Star Wars are on peoples walls taken from the cinema
lobby's of the world. We wish to give this same feeling of looking
at inspiring sci-fi artwork in a non-digital, tangible way to you
with our own new Poster Prints. Printed on high grade 190gsm poster
paper with rich inks here in Scotland each poster is just over A3 in
format with a white border. Perfect for your wargaming walls or
office. PIA01 Ylona of Prydia was inspired by introducing female
miniatures into The Ion Age and was created by Sam Croes.

The Poster Print held by AJS!

Each
Poster Print is 5.00GBP and as always we offer a 10% discount for
three purchased at the same time plus as a special treat you can get
them signed by the artist too!. Go HERE.

Information
Burst!

October
is three weeks in now and its been a big month. So many IAF015 HabDomes, it is still affecting me, thanks again everyone. There is
only a week left to get the second free monthly miniature IMP02
Retained Knight Powerfist by Eli Arndt before it vanishes forever,
one free in every order. We do hope that you enjoy the new ladies
and the poster print too. This week also saw the arrival of the
whole, two hundred plus miniature, 28mm range of Ion Age miniatures
to us from the Alternative Armies website so we are now complete! It
feels great and we will be expanding the 28mm range soon. Remember
when you place an order with us you will be promoted to join the
loyalty scheme which will earn you Reward Points on all purchases
which can, once accumulated, be redeemed for discounts and special
miniatures.

I am somewhat confused as to the Monthly Promo Figure. If I order 1 item (like the 3 Habs I ordered (they look great!)), I get 1 promo. But if I order 3 different items (3 different squads, for example), do I get one promo with each item, or one for the entire order?

Thanks for your comment and interest in the monthly promo miniature. Thanks also for your Hab Dome order, enjoy them.

The miniature that is free is supplied at the rate of one per order, regardless of the size of the order. So if you make one large order you get one, if you place three smaller orders in a row you will get three free miniatures in total across the orders.

I hope this helps you out. But you also got the Noblesse which only a couple of hundred other IonFans have until next year.

Online Fans of the Ion Age

The Ion Age

Near a thousand years has passed since the galaxy brought itself to the brink of extinction in the Wars of the Khanate. Dragon ships burned a thousand worlds and humanity sank to its knees amid the ruins of its once glittering stellar commonwealth. At the battle for the Aldan star system the Ban of Prejudice was lifted and for once the liberated soldiers of the Free Companies stood shoulder to shoulder with the gene soldiers of the sterile Imperial Commonwealth; mankind once more united to stop an overwhelming alien threat. A billion men and woman died fighting and the matter gateway on Aldan IV newly built by the Khanate spewed forth legions from across the galactic plane at a rate that even the fanatical Templars of the Free Companies could not halt. It was then, according to the scorched records of the Starvaulters, that the Templars committed the greatest act of treachery even committed upon the body of humanity; creating the Dolorous Expanses. Whole star systems vanished and were replaced with impenetrable clouds of dust, covering dozens of light years each. An artefact of ancient design in the Aldan system, discovered by the Templars but kept secret, the Dolorous Expanses ended the wars at a stroke. Death and destruction beyond toll, changing the very face of the galaxy and all was still; the Free Companies cast out the Templars and the Imperium retreated into its shattered self. The Khanate...gone…for the time being.

Dark times followed and the fate of mankind looked grim, starvation gained hold and commerce fell to the wayside, as few starships could navigate the Dolorous Expanses and contact with the clouds meant instant obliteration. Inhabited worlds tortured their peoples in desperate acts of accelerated terra-forming; needing the land to feed themselves now that commerce was gone. The once zealot and fanatical Free Companies settled into an agrarian civilisation of fifty worlds bonded loosely by their ruling Barons, those of the Free Companies who had retained the armour and weapons of the mighty Crusader regiments.

On worlds such as New Glastonbury and its orbiting Tor these Barons consolidated their powers and on the whole were good to their people, they needed to be; too much had been lost already. Centuries passed and the region of space containing these green and pleasant worlds became known as the Prydian Precinct. Each stellar system looked to itself for sustenance and as technology returned the mighty starships refined their engines and learned how to use the titanic power of the Ion to generate intense magnetic fields and transport themselves instantly from one system to the next avoiding the deadly 'Dolo Clouds'. The need for a collective leadership became clear once more.

The core systems of Prydian space elected a council of Barons, who became the Aeddan's, to lead them and from among their number a titular head was chosen; a king to act on the behalf of all. To prevent the possible imperial ambitions of the past no standing army was allowed to be in the hands of the Aeddan Council or the King who resided on New Glastonbury. Each system would tend to its own needs to fend off pirates and mercenaries who did not respect the King's laws. Allotted to the Aeddan and the King were the million strong Starvaulters, an armed retinue to police the Prydian Precinct, but with no authority or desire to interfere with the Barons and their worlds; their impartiality was all that kept a vital respect for their judgements in matters the Barons could not agree upon.

For a time this arrangement worked and then war once more threatened the worlds of the Prydian Precinct, and war required troops. Millions of soldiers dressed once more in the augmented armour of their forefathers once more took to the field of battle on a hundred planets and countless orbiters and asteroids. It was in war that disaster fell, King Cyon III was killed, and he left his infant daughter in his place. A mere babe could not administer the needs of the Aeddan and their billions of charges, a guardianship was needed. The duty fell to Reckart Nevall a mighty Baron known as the 'Kingmaker' but his guardianship was not greeted by all with joy, over the fifteen years that followed two great camps grew within Prydian space and the Aeddan council split in twain.

A minor Baron whose world Kendal III was poor but populous brought the building tension to a head. Baron Kacj Dace rebelled against a judgement of the Starvaulters and called upon the Marcher Barons of the outer systems of Prydian space to assist him. This they did, seeing the Starvaulters as nothing more than Nevall's retinue to ensure his false control of the Aeddan Council. Naming themselves the League of Canlaster they elected Prince Edmund Bluefort as their rightful heir to the crown of Prydia and attacked Kendal III destroying the small force of Starvaulters on the planet. This single act ignited a civil war, a conflict the largest seen by the worlds of Prydian space for centuries. Nevall reacted with rage and called on the support of his own Marcher Barons to control the now teenage Princess Daphne Cyon and the throne she represented. He headed the League of Yordan named for his home world. The first battle of the Prydian Civil War was fought on Kendal III, many more soon followed. An elite strike force of Starvaulters stole Princess Cyon from Nevall's grasp and spirited her away to New Glastonbury where they now reside in force.

It is now the twelfth year of the Civil War and after suffering terrible setbacks and defeats the white and red uniformed troops of the Prydian Army have gained new vigour and are pushing the Leagues to their limit.Led by the veterans of the Starvaulters and driven by the Code Gallant the now adult Princess Daphne Cyon has promised to liberate each and every world in the Precinct and return it to the safe holding of the Addan Council.This she is doing to great effect and none in the Leagues seem able to prevent the cheering crowds and the flocking to the banners of the Addan.The Civil War might be nearing its end and for many this cannot come soon enough.

Rumours abound about the ever increasing numbers of Muster and Retained along with some of the shining lights of the Starvaulters being sent to the remote Carmarthen star cluster.Some have hinted that perhaps the Leagues are not the prime threat to Prydia and something else, something terrible lurks at the edge of Precinct space.An ancient enemy that all the preparation and new vitality of the Prydian Army may not be able to halt.

Do you want to liberate worlds held by the Marcher Barons or resist the advance of the Prydian Army? Or do you dream and fear of what is occurring in the remote Carmarthen star cluster?